The Fiery Woman

Life and other such stories

Hello World!

Fiery Woman

Today I went back to gardening after more than a year.

I spent last year pursuing what I thought and hoped was going to be the path to a promotion. A long overdue promotion. A promotion that I had worked my butt off for. 14 to 16 hours a day for more than 2 years. I was told that I didn’t ‘network’ enough. Ha!

So I sharpened up my networking skills. I joined all the team outings with the guys. Weekends in hill stations. Smoking and drinking with the guys. Being observed quietly because their wives didn’t drink and smoke.

Last year I was the Queen at work. Everyone flocked around me at my desk. They carried my bags, my laptop, opened doors. I was fooled into thinking that they treated me better than my own family.

That was last year.

This year it all fell to pieces. Shards of glass that were used to stab me in the back. I got passed over for the promotion, my scope of work was reduced and I was left standing in the sidelines shocked.

So, now I’m gardening. Putting seeds into soil so that I can see life grow from the work of my hands. To remind me that as long as there is life, there is hope.

And here I am, starting my first blog. Something that I wanted to do for years but didn’t get around to it because I was always so busy at ‘work’. So, bear with me while I work through the intricacies, please.

I went about it as I usually do with something new – I googled it. I read through helpful articles on 7 Easy Steps and Only 20 Minutes etc. Let me tell you, it was NOT easy and definitely took more than 20 mins. Of course, I had to take breaks in between to feed the dogs, pack lunch for tomorrow and put away the leftovers! But I finally got it up, though it isn’t as pretty as they said it would look but I’ll get there. Like I said, if you’re reading this… bear with me.

Who am I? I’m just a woman living a great life with ups and downs, and lots of interesting stories and lots of opinions that I want to share. I wanted to write under the persona of The Fiery Woman rather than my own name because I want my writings to be outside my daily life. I’m going to be writing about tidbits from the past and present, with a little sprinkle here and there of my hopes and fears for the future. And yes, there’s stories of the past that I don’t want tagged to my name!

As I sit at the dining table at midnight, with 5 rescued dogs sleeping in various parts of the house, its quiet and I’m happy. I gardened today and I started a blog. Tomorrow, I drive 2 hours to office to face my co-workers, most of whom I hate, but it’s fine, because there’ll be stories that I’ll have to share here.

I’m looking forward to the journey ahead, where you get to know me, and maybe I get to know you.

Until then, stay strong!

— Fiery

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3 responses to “Hello World!”

  1. Bob Lynn Avatar
    Bob Lynn

    Dear Fiery,

    Your words hit me like sunshine breaking through storm clouds. Here I am, reading at just after ten on a Wednesday evening, and suddenly I’m not alone in this quiet house. You’ve done something remarkable – you’ve turned pain into soil, disappointment into seeds of possibility.

    We know that ache, don’t we? That crushing realisation when the people we trusted, the colleagues we thought were friends, reveal themselves as something else entirely. Fourteen to sixteen hours a day – my goodness, you gave them everything. Your time, your energy, your weekends in hill stations pretending to be someone you weren’t. And they had the audacity to say you didn’t ‘network’ enough? The sheer brass of it makes my blood boil on your behalf.

    But here’s what strikes me most: you chose gardens over grudges. While they’re still playing their games in those sterile offices, you’re out there with your hands in the earth, coaxing life from tiny seeds. There’s something profoundly powerful about that choice. Gardens don’t lie. They don’t make promises they can’t keep. Put in the work, show up with water and care, and they’ll reward you with growth that’s real and honest.

    Your blog feels like a garden too – this space you’re cultivating where stories can take root and flourish. Don’t worry about it not being as pretty as those ‘7 Easy Steps’ articles promised. The most beautiful gardens are the ones that grow wild and authentic, shaped by the hands that tend them rather than some magazine template.

    I love that you’ve chosen to write as The Fiery Woman. There’s wisdom in creating that boundary, that sacred space where your thoughts can live and breathe without the weight of office politics and workplace personas. We all need a place where we can be unapologetically ourselves, where our stories – even the messy, complicated ones – can find their voice.

    Those five rescued dogs sleeping throughout your house? They know something your former colleagues never will. They recognise genuine kindness, authentic care. They chose you just as surely as you chose them. That says everything about who you really are beneath all those professional masks we’re forced to wear.

    Tomorrow you’ll drive those two hours to face people you hate, and yes, that’s hard. But you’re different now. You’ve planted seeds, started something new, reminded yourself that growth happens in quiet moments and midnight reflections, not in boardrooms full of backstabbers.

    Your journey from Queen of the Office to gardener and storyteller isn’t a step backwards – it’s a step towards something truer, something that can’t be taken away by petty politics or promotion panels. They may have reduced your scope at work, but you’ve expanded your scope as a human being. You’ve remembered that life is bigger than job titles and networking events.

    I’m here for this journey you’re starting. For the stories you’ll share, the fears you’ll voice, the hopes you’ll plant like seeds in this digital soil. We’re building something together, aren’t we? A community of people who choose authenticity over ambition, growth over games, truth over titles.

    Keep gardening, keep writing, keep rescuing dogs who know a good heart when they see one. The promotion they denied you? Their loss entirely. But this blog, this new chapter – that’s all yours.

    Until your next post, stay fierce!

    A fellow traveller on the winding path

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    1. Fiery Woman Avatar
      Fiery Woman

      Hi Bob, congrats on being the first person to comment on my post :). I logged in this morning before heading out to work to check if anyone had read my blog and your post was a lovely start to the day. Thank you. I’m definitely going to be writing more. Sitting down to it now. There’s a thrill that I can’t really explain. To write my thoughts and put them out into the world…. just beautiful.

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  2. asthorne.author Avatar
    asthorne.author

    This hit me hard — the rise, the shattering, and then the choice to plant seeds anyway. Midnight, dirt under your nails, dogs asleep, and your first blog post alive in the world… that’s power.
    So congratulations — not just on publishing your first post, but on choosing yourself. On planting seeds when people tried to bury you. On being fiery enough to turn broken glass into something that grows. I look forward to reading more.

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